Ashley Curtis... Ponyboy's sister...

Steve the... Scared...? - chapter 58

When I woke up the next day, it was Wednesday. I stretched out my arms, hitting Soda in the nose by mistake. He stirred, but didn't wake up. I stood up from my spot on Dally's lap and walked to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, I saw Steve looking for something in the fridge. I scoffed. "We're outta beer, Steve."

He jumped up, sorta startled. He saw me and calmed down. "Oh, it's just you." He went back to looking through the fridge. "I thought you were Soda for a second there. And, by the way, I ain't lookin' for beer. Was thinkin' of makin' breakfast."

Steve never makes breakfast. He's always too lazy or somethin' lame like that.

I walked up beside him, not smiling. "Whatcha makin'?" I asked.

He glared at me. "Why do you care?"

I shrugged. "Just wondering." I said. Then, I smirked. "That and I can actually cook." I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

He ignored my comment. "I don't know what I'm makin'."

I took out a carton of eggs. "How 'bout we make eggs?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "We?"

I put a hand on my hip and pointed a finger in Steve's face. "Cool it, Steve! I still hate ya, but I'd rather not have my friends die of food poisoning! Okay?"

He looked at my hand in astonishment. I realized that he was looking at the ring on my finger. My face flushed and I put my hand down.

He smirked. "Ooh. Ashley gettin' married?"

I clenched my hands into fists. "No! It's a promise ring!"

He still had that smug look on his face. "Same thing."

He tried to turn around, but I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and looked him in the eye. He was caught off guard. "Look. I hate you, too, but you better shape up! You're friends with my brother and I care about my brother. So, treat me with some respect. Okay?"

He stood there in silence, his mouth hanging open. Then, he finally managed the word, "S-sure." I let go of the collar of his shirt and he fell on his knees.

I rolled my eyes and extended his hand to help him up. He hesitated.

Steve's POV

I tried to turn away from her, but she grabbed the collar of my shirt. Her eyes were fiery and fierce. They looked exactly like Sodapop's.

It reminded me of the time I pushed Ponyboy. I was mad at him. He made fun of me when I got my first tattoo. He said it looked lame. So, I pushed him to the hard wood floor. At that point, he was only 10. So, it really hurt him. He cried out in pain. Sodapop ran in and saw Pony on the floor. He ran up to me and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and his eyes got fiery. He yelled at me until I was crying. Sobbing, even.

She looked deep into my eyes and started yelling at me. I didn't understand most of what she said, but I knew that, for the most part, she was telling me to stop being such a jerk toward her. She asked if I understood. I froze, but forced the word, "S-sure." Out of my mouth.

She let go of me and I fell to the floor. She extended her arm to help me up. A peace offering, if you will.

I despise her. I wanted to smack her hand away and stand up on my own. But, I figured, if I was gonna be friends with her brother, I should probably stop bothering her.

I took her hand and she helped me up. We started making breakfast and didn't say a single word the whole time.

After we had made enough scrambled eggs to feed a small third world country, we put everything down on the kitchen table. We then went to wake up the guys.